Biologics gaining ground against psoriasis

Recent studies reveal encouraging news about biologic drugs' ability to battle psoriasis. An overview of the agents includes: Enbrel (etanercept, Immunex) remains the only biologic drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating psoriatic arthritis.Remicade (infliximab, Centocor), an IV infusion drug currently undergoing phase 3 testing, already has shown impressive efficacy in phase 2 results.

"Of all the biologics, infliximab seems to have the highest efficacy," says Jeffrey M. Weinberg M.D., Columbia University.

Humira (adalimumab, Abbott), which recently entered phase 3 trials for psoriasis, appears to achieve an efficacy level between that of etanercept and infliximab.Unlike the TNF inhibitors above, Raptiva (efalizumab, Genentech) and Amevive (alefacept, Biogen) target T-cells. "The T-cell-targeting drugs appear to be very safe," Dr. Weinberg says.